Chapter 4

I gathered my mother up and rushed for the car.

Gasps rippled through the crowd. Even Amelia looked shaken, frozen where she stood, not knowing what to do with her hands.

"I really didn't think it would come to this. I didn't mean for it…"

But Cecil only sneered and stepped in front of me, blocking my way.

"Enough, Lawrence. Drop the act."

"I looked into it a long time ago. Your mother doesn't have a heart condition at all."

"First you used your mom's fake heart condition to guilt Amelia into marrying you, and now, just to get out of barking, you're using your own mother as a prop."

"Faking an old woman's illness for sympathy. You even call yourself a man?"

Mavis jumped in right behind him.

"Kept men are the schemers, aren't they. For that pathetic scrap of pride, he'll even use his own mother. Truly an eye-opener!"

I was shaking with rage.

My eyes were bloodshot, fixed on Amelia.

"Amelia, get your lapdog out of my way, now!"

"My mother wore herself down working through the nights to support us when she was young, and it left her with a heart condition. It's all there in her medical records, clear as day."

"If you don't believe me, call the hospital right now and ask!"

But there was nothing in Amelia's eyes except contempt.

"Ask them what. Cecil would never lie to me."

"Lawrence, I'll give you one more chance. Bark once, and this ends right here. I'll marry you."

Using my mother's life to force me to throw away my dignity?

It was driving me out of my mind.

"Marry my ass. Amelia, if anything happens to my mother, I will never let you off!"

It was the first time I'd ever been that vicious.

Amelia flinched back half a step, then her eyes went red with fury.

"Fine. Lawrence, you're really something. After everything, you still have the nerve to snarl at me."

She flung out a hand, and the Fox parents charged forward with their bodyguards, faces black as thunder.

"You've got some nerve! A kept man, and you dare raise your voice at Amelia?"

"Hold him down for me. Let's see if he still refuses to bow today!"

Several bodyguards in black moved in at once, trying to pin me.

My chest felt like it would burst.

Back when I helped the Fox family claw their way back up, these two called me their good son-in-law with every other breath, drowning in gratitude.

Now that they'd made it, they turned on me like I was a stranger.

And to humiliate me, they would even stop me from saving my own mother.

I fought them with everything I had, and just as I was about to signal my brothers and let it all break loose, a steady voice cut in.

"Move. I'm a cardiologist. Let me see the patient."

The crowd shifted aside, and a calm, sure-handed doctor came through quickly and crouched to check on my mother.

I knew who he was. The specialist my ex had arranged.

He finished his exam fast, and his face changed in an instant. He drew out an acupuncture needle, worked it into her without hesitation, then stood and said in a low, firm voice.

"The patient is critical. I've stabilized her heart rhythm for now, but she needs to get to a hospital for surgery immediately."

Half the weight lodged in my throat finally dropped. I turned to the Fox family still blocking the car and spoke coldly.

"Get out of my way."

Cecil scoffed.

"Lawrence, if you're going to put on a show, at least commit."

"A heart condition that serious, controlled by a few needles? Impossible."

"Your mother's illness is fake."

I wanted nothing more than to put a fist through this idiot.

"This man is the top cardiac specialist in the country. Since when are you qualified to question his skill?"

The whole place went quiet, then exploded into a roar of laughter.

"A kept man on three grand a month knows a famous doctor? More like some extra he hired off the internet!"

Cecil was laughing so hard he could barely stand up straight.

"Oh my god, if you're going to act, act well. You might as well tell me you're Napoleon."

Amelia watched me coldly.

"Lawrence, you really never learn, do you. Lie after lie, act after act."

"I'll give you one last chance. Bark ninety-nine times, nice and obedient, then crawl through Cecil's legs."

"Do that, and today gets wiped clean. Otherwise, I'll make sure you can't set foot anywhere in Harborview again!"

The whole place fell silent again, everyone watching me, jeering.

All of them waiting to see me kneel and take the shame, to become the joke for every last one of them.

Then a cool, clear woman's voice rang out.

"I'd like to see who dares make my husband bark."